Seven Wonders

If you ever get sucked back through time to the Ancient World and are able to do a bit of tourism, be sure to put these at the top of your 'not-to-be-missed' list. 

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia:  This was basically a giant sculpture of Zeus.  It filled up an entire Greek temple and was made entirely of ivory and gold...what's not to love?  The sculptor Phidias allegedly drew inspiration from Homer's Iliad, so that makes it literary as well as opulent.  Unfortunately, this thing no longer exists in the modern day; it most likely survived Caligula's designs on it, but it either burned in its temple, or was carted off to Constantinople and destroyed by fire in 475 AD.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria: On the island of Pharos in Alexandria, Egypt, this lighthouse was the tallest building in the world for several centuries.  Illustrations of it actually look quite modern...well, neoclassical, which I suppose makes sense.  There's a fun story behind this: legend has it that the architect, Sostradus, was forbidden to carve his name into the structure by the king.  But Sostradus was clever, and in secret wrote his name on the base and covered it with plaster, and then carved the name of the king in this.  Over the centuries, however, the name of the king, and then the plaster, wore away, revealing Sostradus' legacy...until, at least, earthquakes destroyed the tower in the 1300s.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon: These were said to have been built in about 600 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar the Second for his wife...they were lovely and lush and reminiscent of Persia and full of aqueducts and whatever else.  An earthquake destroyed them in about 200 BC.

The Colossus of Rhodes: Another giant Greek god, this time Helios.  Over a hundred feet tall, made of iron and bronze, and situated at the harbor (although, not probably as often 'romantically' illustrated standing astride the harbor entrance), this colossus was felled by yet another earthquake.  I didn't know the Mediterranean region even had this many earthquakes..?  The ruins lay where they had fallen for nearly a millennium, but were eventually lost.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus: This temple took well over a hundred years to build and was funded by Croesus...just goes to show.  Today there are some remnants of carvings and so on in Turkey (and in museums elsewhere), because the whole thing was burned to the ground on the very night Alexander the Great was born by Herostratus, whose motive was simple yet strange: the pursuit of immortalizing fame. 

The Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus: This was a giant tomb for a Persian governor by the name of Mausolus...which is actually where we get the word mausoleum.  The structure was built in a courtyard on a hill, and carved with warriors and Amazons, horses and lions and centaurs.  A combination of earthquakes and pirates seem to have put an end to this memorial to mortal remains, however, before the 10th century. 

The Great Pyramid of Giza: Good news - this one is still (mostly) standing!  It's also one of the oldest, being build before 2500 BC.  Everyone knows what it looks like, no one knows how it was created, the polished white limestone casing stones are mostly gone, but the pyramid is impressive in terms of art, engineering, and architecture.

This list of wonders was more nearly, in its time, a guidebook, most likely originally compiled by the Greek historian Herodotus (although his original recommendation is lost to history and we only now know about the list through reference).  Kind of sad that only one of the most impressive sites of the Classical Period now exists...still, I suppose it's a marvel that anything man-made at all has lasted so long.

*Note: Some alternative lists have the Ishtar Gate as part of the Walls of Babylon as one of the sites instead of the Lighthouse.  If you like, you can see fragments of the Gate in various museums around the world.